Easter dress shopping date

So Friday night Marissa and I finished our dinner and hit the town. We had one thing on our mind, shopping. We were headed to Kohls with a plan, a coupon and some Kohls cash! Our mission was to find an Easter dress we loved as much as one that we had saw online and fell in love with.  We got to the store and immediately started scouring the racks to find dresses that we liked. 

It only took a matter of minutes and we had several to try! So off to the dressing room we went. 

We tried on dress, after dress after dress. Stopping to take a picture of each one. Both of us would say our thoughts about it and we had to give EVERY dress the twirl test. Because what little girl does not love a dress that soars when she spins.
Here is what we found...
This one was okay.

 She LOVED this one, I thought it looked a bit like rainbow sherbet.

 But she was really happy with it.

Pink eyelet, I do love eyelet and this one was simple. But, I thought it may be a bit to simple and a bit to pink to.

This one had a criss-cross back and a hi-lo skirt. It was fun, but not what we were looking for. 

My least favorite of the ones we tried on.

I loved this one. Something very 50's housewife about it. I didn't like that it was a bit on the shorter side of what we are okay with and it didn't seem very "Easter like". It was really cute though.

This one ended up being our favorite. You can see how happy she looks wearing it. A fuschia Lace slip over a black and white design and check this out...

 It is reversible! Whoa!

Plus it rated crazy high on the twirly scale!

After finding this dress we had a tough decision on our hands. 

At the end of trying on and some deliberating we both made the decision together to order the dress that we had seen on the computer, but they didn't have in-store. I guess we are risk takers! 

After we ordered the dress we headed to the jewelry department to look at pretties, then stopped to smell and sample some perfume. 
Then we headed home....
After a quick stop at Sonic for a slushy first!
I love our big girl time. She is such a joy to me and our time together is always so special.

I am so blessed.

Five on Friday

How in the world is it already Friday again?!?! Seriously, I know we all say that the weeks go by so fast but this week feels like a complete blur!

We had a rough start to the week The oldest one was sick for a few days which meant little sister was a bit lost with nobody to boss her around. Then Emily had a toe injury resulting in a ridiculous amount of blood all over the play room and an emergency trip to Walmart to grab some liquid band aid. NEVER a dull moment! So, with all of these "exciting" surprises and our normal weeknight events it feels like I blinked twice and the weekend is upon us.

5 on Friday time, here are my 5 thoughts, likes, and picks for this week.

1- SPRING!!! It is here... or at least they say it is here. I am not optimistic about the forecast but at least yesterday was a beautiful first day of spring.

Here in a few days this may be the case. Just sayin, Missouri is unpredictable!

2- This swimsuit! I loved it so much I bought it. I of course got it in black. A black swimsuit is just like a black dress everyone needs at least one. But, I liked that you could see the details on this picture better than the black one. I hadn't bought a swimsuit in YEARS and this is my first one piece since I was probably 10. I loved how flirty and cute this retro style is. The strap is optional so no tan line worries there. I Can't wait til it is warm enough to use it! I have LOTS of pool time planned in my head for this summer.

3- This quote is from my hands down absolute favorite book Ever! If you haven't read it, you really should. Crazy Love, By Francis Chan 4- Yurbuds, I love my Yurbuds. I went from finding headphones annoying and constantly fidgeting with them on my runs to not even really feeling them and never having to re position them. Sadly I was not being smart and I pulled off one of my tips on the headphone that wasn't in my ear on an 8 mile run recently. So I am REALLY missing them and anxious for the replacement part to arrive. If your headphones annoy you, you should try these out!

5- Easter dresses. Time to start figuring out what big sister is going to get. I find that every year shopping with her gets a little harder, as her opinions keep getting a little stronger. But, we always manage to find a balance. We also aren't a big fancy Easter dress kind of family. I usually look at it in a practical way. Some years I just piece something together that maybe she already had sitting up on a shelf in her closet, other years we buy something. The plan this year will be a bit different. This weekend we are planning a mommy & Marissa shopping trip. Just us big girls going to look for a new dress. I am both excited and nervous about what we may or may not find.

Here are our previous choices...

Easter 1, plain white eyelet dress, loved the simplicity of this

Easter 2, definitely more girly but nothing over the top.

Easter 3, Another simple dress with daisies all over it.

Easter 4, at first I couldn't remember why I chose this, then I remembered I didn't. She did! She insisted on wearing this dress. Back in the day where PINK was the only color she would consider.

Easter 5, Simple plaid skirt, tank and white sweater that we just happened to have bought super cheap at Gymboree in the fall.

Excited to take her shopping and see what we come up with this year!

Have a GREAT weekend!

 

Bread making & Hamburger Buns

I bake a lot of bread. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT! Throughout the past year we have been making some changes in the way we eat. Trying to eat healthier, trying to get away from pre-made, boxed and lots of preservative types of foods. It has been a long road and we are no where close to being perfect yet. But, we have switched over almost entirely in the bread dept. I make all of our bread. From sandwich, bagels, french bread, cinnamon raisin, English muffin, artisan, ciabatta, flour tortillas and more. At first it seemed like a lot of work and/or a bit intimidating. But, learning how to freeze bread and having a Kitchen-aid mixer have definitely helped.

Baking bread is something that I really feel is an art. It takes patience, some kitchen skills, and a little bit of luck at first. I do think that once you get the hang of it and learn the process and love the process you are unstoppable. And not only will you be able to make just about any kind of bread you want, you will save money and cut out a lot of preservatives in your families diet.

Today I am going to share my hamburger bun recipe. I found a recipe that was pretty good. Then I changed it to make a wheat version and adapted the baking to process to make a better bun. The wheat level can be adjusted as you would like. I recommend no more that 50%. You can also make these with white flour if you prefer.

Hamburger Buns

Ingredients:

1 Cup Milk (whole or 2%) 1/2 Cup water 1/4 Cup butter

3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

1 Cup wheat flour

1 package instant yeast 2 Tbsp white sugar 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 egg
Directions: 1. In small sauce pan heat milk, water and butter until about 120 degrees. Set aside to cool. 
2. In large bowl mix together 1 1/2 c all purpose flour, yeast, sugar and salt When the milk mixture has cooled down you can dump it in. You want it to be warm to touch but not hot. If it is to hot you will kill your yeast. Add egg and mix well. Add the remaining flours 1/2 c at a time starting with the whole wheat. When the dough has pulled together knead it for about 8 minutes until smooth and elastic like. The dough should be wet but should not stick to your hands. 
3. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rise until doubled in size.
4. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape into smooth balls and place onto greased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly, cover and let rise about 30-35 minutes
5. Bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. For a shinier but you can apply an egg white wash before baking. But, I find the buns brown pretty nicely without this step.
6. Enjoy! Leftover buns freeze great!

FROZEN night

So, as I am sure just about all of you already know Frozen came out yesterday

I think it is my hands down favorite Disney cartoon ever. It even beats my childhood favorites, Bambi, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. I thought I loved Tangled and then Frozen came along.  And the girls, oh those girls are completely smitten. In fact as I sit here trying to type up this blog quickly, so we can start our day. I have one in my lap and one leaning over crowding her face in front of the screen. Both of them just staring at the picture I placed at the top of this post. They can't get enough. Which describes just about every other little girl I know.

 Last night the ladies from my small group, got together for a girls night which included: Frozen, finger nail polish, and ice cream. It was nice to get out of my house and enjoy the company of friends. Especially after a very stressful start to the week, which included to trips to Walmart for emergency medical supplies. Oh those girls. Don't worry though we are doing great now!  This little cutie pie, definitely stole the show.

My bowl of ice cream, yes I ate the whole thing. Don't judge.

Attempt at a group picture by placing the phone on the lip of the fireplace door.

And then I took a group pic without me. Group pics aren't group pics when someone is missing. 

What a fun night. I think that possibly may have been my 14th time to watch Frozen, but it was great doing it with friends.

Leaving Peru with Alfajores

To finish up learning about Peru we baked cookies. Peruvian, or really just South American cookies. Alfajores, aka Alfies. These are a shortbread cookie sandwich cookie with a dulce de leche filling. They are amazing!

Alfajores

Ingredients: 1/2 Cup room temperature butter 1/3 Cup sugar 2 Egg yolks 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 Cup corn starch 3/4 Cup all purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1, 13.4 oz can dulce de leche flour for dusting
Directions: 1. Add the butter and sugar to a mixing bowl and, with the paddle attachment on, cream until light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the egg yolk and vanilla, mix until incorporated. With a spatula scrape down the sides of the bowl (do not skip this step).
3. On low speed add the cornstarch, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt mix until the dough comes together (do not over mix).
4. Turn the dough out on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into disk and wrap tightly.
5. Preheat oven to 350F
6. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
7. Remove the dough for the refrigerator, unwrap it, and place it on a lightly floured work area.  Lightly flour the top of the dough. Roll dough to 1/4" thickness (the dough will crack but can be easily patched back together).
8. Cut into rounds using the cookie cutter of your preference. I wanted small cookies so I used what I had, a shot glass. You can also use a biscuit cutter for larger cookies.
9. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Bake them for 8-13 minutes depending on the size you choose. The cookies will be done when they set nicely and start to turn a very, very light brown on the bottom. Do not over bake.
10. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
11. Spread about 1 T of dulce de leche on half of the cookies. Place a second cookie on top and gently press to make a sandwich.
12. Enjoy

With our passport stamped Peru we are headed to England!

Original recipe found on Roxanashomebaking.com

Passport to the world and Peru part 1

Last week at the end of our "trip" to Mexico post I had mentioned that we had our passport stamped Mexico and we were heading to Peru. Well, that got me thinking how cute would it be to actually make her a passport! I had originally planned to just Google and print one I found online but I ended up piecing a few different ones together. Here are some of my favorites that I found.

First I found a passport cover. I like how this one looked pretty legitimate. This site also has a link for inside pages.

The Second passport option is located here. There are cover options and page options as well as stamps on this site. The only thing I disliked about this one was that the didn't look as "real". But if your looking for a quick print this is a great option.

I also found more passport stamps here.

I used the first passport cover and the pages for the second option. There was a size difference but I was able to easily adjust the size down when printing. 

Once you pick what design you like, you should have what you need to put you booklet together. Either use a stapler, brads or yarn. Whatever you have on hand. Just make sure you include plenty of blank pages so you can easily keep track of your travels.

Don't forget to include a picture. If you don't have a picture handy you can always have them draw one in!

 

Passport in hand and we are ready to go!

This is week two of our world tour! One country a week until we wrap up our home school year.

My plans for these lessons will be to:

Learn to find the country on the map

Learn the countries capital

Learn to say Hello in that countries native language

Color a picture of that countries flag

Google search images of that country

Look at the language in a simple way (colors or numbers)

Listen to that countries national anthem
Prepare a traditional meal and/or dessert

Make a craft that represents that country

Here are some pictures from our journey.

Coloring the flag

Our craft this week was cardboard loom weaving. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work probably better for 8+. But, we did manage to make a pretty great throw rug for her doll house. 

If you want to give it a try check out this link.

 

Finding Peru

 Looking at pictures of Peru.

That almost wraps up our time in Peru, we just have one last tasty project to share before we depart. 

Have a great Monday!